The global artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom has also reshaped Korea's stock market landscape. In the domestic market, Samsung Electronics, which had held the crown as the top stock by market capitalization for 27 years, handed the "throne" to SK hynix.
On the 22nd, during intraday trading, SK hynix's market cap surpassed Samsung Electronics' for the first time ever. As of 12:40 p.m. that day, SK hynix's market capitalization was 2,090 trillion won, overtaking Samsung Electronics at 2,088 trillion won to take the No. 1 spot. While SK hynix shares were up 6%, Samsung Electronics shares were posting only a slight gain.
It is the first time in 27 years since 1999 that Samsung Electronics has yielded the top spot in Korea.
Behind Samsung Electronics relinquishing the long-secured No. 1 market-cap position are the explosive growth of the AI industry and a semiconductor "super cycle." As the global AI investment boom has sharply increased worldwide semiconductor demand and chip selling prices have jumped, profits at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have also risen significantly.
However, while Samsung Electronics operates multiple businesses beyond semiconductors, including smartphones and home appliances, SK hynix focuses solely on semiconductors. In particular, SK hynix was first to develop High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) products and supply them to Nvidia, leading the market ahead of rivals such as Samsung Electronics and Micron.
Thanks to the ongoing semiconductor boom, SK hynix's share price gains have far outpaced Samsung Electronics'. While Samsung Electronics' stock rose about 480% over the past year, SK hynix shares soared more than 920%. SK hynix's market cap, which was 187 trillion won in June last year, leaped to the 2,000 trillion won range within a year.
On top of that, SK hynix plans to list American depositary receipts (ADR) on the U.S. stock market in the second half of this year. In March, SK hynix filed a registration statement (Form F-1) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its U.S. ADR listing.
Although SK hynix shares have surged in a short period, experts expect further gains. Kim Dong-Won, KB Securities Research Center Deputy Minister, said, "As the AI agent market rapidly spreads from the cloud to edge DEVICE such as PCs and mobile, overall memory demand including HBM, server DRAM, and enterprise SSDs will enter an acceleration phase," adding, "SK hynix shares could rise to 3.8 million won."
Kim added that Hynix's operating profit in the second quarter will reach 69 trillion won, up 7.5 times from a year earlier, and that an earnings surprise is expected, with an operating margin of 77.2% to rank No. 1 worldwide.
With SK hynix newly ascending as the top stock and breaking Samsung Electronics' dominance that had continued since 1999, the market-cap contest between the two listed companies is expected to continue. That is because analysis is prevalent that Samsung Electronics is also expanding its share in the HBM market and restoring competitiveness in its foundry business, which could lift its share price further.